racism

There is no good in this world, done under the name of religion, that could not have been done by good people who hold no religious belief. Any good and moral action that has been done in religion's name has been done in spite of religion, not because of it. Good people will, given the chance, do good. And most people are good.

With the trial over, the jury has spoken and George Zimmerman is a free man. Some applaud the verdict and others curse the system for failing to bring justice. Where you stand on this depends partly on how you define justice.

The parable of the "the Good Samaritan" was always one of those stories that stuck out as being 'wrong', precisely because it sounded like a racist slur or stereotyping a country and its people. You know what I'm talking about. The cheap Jew. The drunk Irishman. Here in Canada, we used to have stupid Newfie jokes.

In that way, the parable of the Good Samaritan is much like telling the story of the Sober Irishman, which is worth mentioning only because, well . . . can you really imagine a sober Irishman? How about the story of the rich Jew who gives a lot to charity?